Imprint
by Faux Pax
Summary: Post-Manhattan. Gold won't let anyone stand in the way of getting his boy back. Even Neal. Against his wishes, Gold turns back the clock, changing him into Bae, complete with memory wipe. But Rumple forgot that the heart ALWAYS remembers even if the head doesn't. Now with the help of a few other kids, Bae has to find a way to undo what his father did to him before he breaks.


AN: Was I the only one who noticed that Gold made the offer to turn back the clock AFTER Neal found out about Henry? I mean really, smooth move there Rumple. And thus the plot bunny for this little thing was born. Outline says it's going to be five chapters all together

By the way, I sort of borrowed Mark from my other Fic, 'Stardust.' I hadn't intended to, but he kind of shoved his way in. Oh well. I should have the next chapter of Stardust sent off to my beta sometime tonight so it should be posted about Wednesday is.

Many thanks to my wonderful beta achromatiscope.

Enjoy.

* * *

Bae stood, looking up at the large stone building, and struggled to repress the sick, knotted sensation in the pit of his stomach. It was odd really; it wasn't the size of the building, or even how completely alien it was from everything he knew, that sent him on edge. What frightened him about this world was something he couldn't quite get ahold of. It was like trying to catch a current in the stream; he knew it was there, but if he ever tried to pick it up to show to someone, it would slip through his fingers like it had never been there.

That sense that something wasn't right had been with him since he had awoken in the back of his Papa's shop after landing in this world. He remembered being over that pit with his father— being just as afraid as the old man himself at the swirling vortex of doom ready to gobble them up like a woodsman devouring his dinner— and wanting so bad for them to jump in, because it was the only chance to save his Papa from himself. The ground under them had given way, and his father had dug into the side of the pit, his Papa's hand wrapped so tightly around his. And then Papa let go.

For an instant as he fell alone into oblivion, his world shattered. It was one thing to watch as his father's humanity slipped away one murder at a time. Bae knew it was the dark magic that did it, that turned him from the good man he once had been. It was something else entirely to know that he had chosen that poisonous power over his own son.

And yet, the next thing he knew, he was lying on a cot in the back of his father's shop, waking as if from a long nap to find his Papa sitting there beside him, his skin devoid of the sickly glitter, his eyes warm and brown, and his foot just as hobbled as ever.

His father had explained it. That a curse had brought most of the town to this world and had given them memories as if they had lived in this little hamlet all their lives. The curse had been cast long ago, so in truth, his Papa had been waiting here for him for years.

Baelfire knew the truth even if he didn't ask. Nothing happened by coincidence. He knew that his Papa had had something to do with the curse that brought them here.

Maybe that was why he felt so sick. As much as his father looked like he had changed— as much as Bae wanted to believe that he had— there was something whispering inside him that it was all an illusion. His Papa was still the Dark One at heart.

That was why Bae had insisted on starting school now, even though his papa had wanted to keep him home for a while as he got used to this strange land. He needed to get away from the cause of this churning in his stomach; this irrational fear that ate away at him a hundred times worse than before.

An administrator walked him from the office to his class, attempting to explain how things worked at Storybrooke Elementary, but Bae couldn't really hear her over the sound of his blood rushing to his ears. He didn't know how he knew it, but everything inside him screamed that school would be hell— that the children here took particular pleasure in singling out those who were different, those who were alone.

Bae shoved his hand into the pocket of his uniform and began rubbing the small, coin sized talisman within it between his fingertips. He had woken with it in his pocket, and while he could not tell where it had come from, he knew the swan charm was important. Despite the sharp twinge of pain he got every time he looked at it, it brought him a calm comfort he knew he would need.

He couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious, standing in front of the class as the other kids stared and tried not to whisper. Bae could tell that they knew who his father was, and that meant they were probably going to stay as far away from him as possible.

Bae shouldn't have been surprised. His father may have said he had changed, but deep down Bae had known he was lying and in his mind, this just proved it. Most of these kids were scared of him because of his Papa. Nothing in his life had really changed except the place.

One boy was different though. As the dark haired teacher introduced him to the class, a boy with a brown mop of hair raised his head and looked at him, but not with the same fear and caution everyone else did. In fact, the kid looked happy to see him, or maybe more sad to see him really. It was impossible to tell.

The funny thing was that standing there, looking at the boy, Bae felt the same way. There was something about him, like Bae knew they would be great friends, but for some reason they hadn't been meant to meet here, now, and in this way.

He couldn't explain why, but not for the first time since coming through the portal, he was sure that something big wasn't right in his world.

A bell rang and Bae jumped, looking around in surprised.

The teacher smiled at him kindly, as the kids started to file out of the classroom.

"The bell just tells us it's time for lunch" she told him. Somehow she was able to explain it— something so simple, something everyone in this world knew about except him— without making him feel stupid for not knowing.

He gave a little smile and nodded to her.

"Henry and Mark will show you around and help you get used to things here, alright?"

She was motioning to the last two boys to leave. One was the brown haired boy from earlier and somehow Bae knew he was Henry.

"Sure thing Mrs. B," the other one— Mark— said as he threw his arm over Bae's shoulder. There was something about the blonde boy that warned Bae he wasn't really like the kids back home, but he couldn't tell why that was. He wasn't sure if his gut was telling him to trust this boy or run completely in the opposite direction. "Another addition to our little club would be nice."

The teacher narrowed her eyes at him ever so slightly in exasperation, but said nothing, not that Mark would have noticed. His back was turned away from her and he was already herding Bae out the door.

"Come on," Mark said, "let's go before all the good pizza is gone. No one wants the crusty stuff that's been sitting under the lights too long."

Bae had a lot of questions, but he kept silent, figuring it was far better to just watch and learn rather then look foolish by asking. He wasn't the only one not speaking, although at the rate Mark was chattering on in front of them in the line, Bae thought it was safe to assume he was the only one who noticed Henry's silence.

"Are you okay?" For some reason Bae needed to know. Although they had only met a few moments ago, there was something about the slightly smaller boy that made Bae want to protect him. A part of him imagined that he was seeing Henry as the little brother he'd never had, but that wasn't quite right.

Henry looked up at him, smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes, and nodded. Underneath it all Bae could see that he was lying. Something was definitely wrong, but he was wordlessly begging the new boy not to ask.

So Bae did the only thing he could think of: he changed the subject.

"What is this club you were talking about?" Bae asked as the boys set their tray down at the only empty table left in the room.

"Nothing official or anything, but you see," Mark said, shoving a bit of food into his mouth, "the woman who raised Henry is an evil sorceress— the one who cast the curse. My mom is just as much of an evil witch— and a few other words I'm technically not allowed to say in school— and then there's your old man. The club's just for those of us who kind of have evil parents and get avoided by the rest of the kids because of it."

Bae looked down at his plate and picked at the foreign food with his fork. He had suspected as much, but to hear his fears confirmed— to hear that his father really hadn't changed back into the good man Bae knew him to be— hurt more then he wanted to admit.

"That's mean Mark. I thought we were friends?" Bae looked up to see a blonde girl standing behind Mark with tray in hand. Mark twisted around to look at her and smiled.

"Of course we are Paige," he said as he scooted over on the bench to make room for her, "as long as you're not too chicken to sit with us."

She looked at Henry, her own brown eyes smiling as she blushed. Henry didn't notice as she sat down, his own eyes still on his plate. Paige's smile faded a little and Mark exhaled a breath that could have hidden a sigh.

So, Bae wasn't the only one who noticed something off about the way Henry was acting, which meant this wasn't normal for him.

Mark took a gulp of milk with all the abandon of a depressed alcoholic chugging a bottle of whisky. Setting the carton down and wiping his mouth on the long sleeve of his uniform, he turned his attention back to Bae.

"Here's a question for you," Mark asked, "what are you doing in fourth grade?"

"I don't understand."

This time Mark really did sigh.

"School is divided up roughly by age levels. But you, my friend," the words sent a shiver down Bae's spine, as if a bad memory were trying to breach the surface, but couldn't quite come up to breathe. He forced himself not to show it as Mark continued, "are much older than the rest of us kids."

Bae looked down, embarrassed. The situation had been explained to him, but he hadn't thought much of it. The village he came from only had a few children, so age hadn't meant much when it came to play partners. Everyone knew that if you were too picky about it, you would be left with nothing to do. So it wasn't uncommon to see the very young children playing with those almost ready to be called an adult. But here, it would seem, there were enough children that the rules were different. Bae wouldn't be looked up to because of he was older; he would be looked down on because he was at a lower level than others of his age.

"He doesn't have any cursed memories," Henry said. It was the first time he spoke and there was something in his voice that made Bae's heart hurt just to hear. He didn't know why it bothered him so much or what exactly it was in Henry's voice that tore at him so, but it did, and Bae knew there was more to it than just basic empathy. He knew it wouldn't have hurt him near as much to see Mark or Paige as upset.

"I bet they made you take a test to see where you fit in, right?" Paige said.

Bae nodded. That's exactly what happened.

"My Papa made sure I could read and do numbers," he said, a little self-conscious, and then his voice dropped to a near-whisper, "but the other stuff…"

Paige gave him a little smile.

"Science and social studies weren't really taught back home," she said with a smile, and Bae knew she wasn't judging him, she was simply stating a fact. "It's okay, Mark and Henry are both really smart. They can help get you caught up and then maybe you can retest to where you belong."

Henry slammed down his fork with an anger that seemed unnatural in the kid and got up from his seat. Bae and the others watched as he picked up his tray and dumped it, almost untouched, into the trashcan.

Bae could feel his lips tugging into a frown. "Was it something I said?"

Mark shrugged. "If it is, I have no idea what it was."

"He's been acting a little odd lately," Paige said, turning to Mark. "Do you know why?"

Mark sighed and his eyes flitted between them, measuring how much he could dodge the question, before putting his fork down. He put his elbows on the table, leaning in as if what he had to say was some great secret. Bae and Paige leaned in as well, until there were only a few inches of space between their faces.

"You know how he skipped a couple days last week?"

Paige nodded.

"Well he and his mom went on a fieldtrip to the outside." There was a slight note of jealously in Mark's voice but it didn't last as he continued. "I don't know what happened, but that's the most I've heard him say since he got back."

Bae was a little disappointed that that was all the information Mark could give, but he didn't say anything. It was obvious by the way Paige's face furrowed that he wasn't the only one upset over this.

"I'll tell Miss Blanchard, maybe she could help."

"I'm sure she already knows," Mark said. There was a note to his voice that told Bae more than his words. Mark had already spoken to the adults, had already tried to help in all the ways he knew, but was stuck at a dead end. That was why he was trying so hard to act normal; it was the only thing he could think to do. As though if they played at normal long enough, Henry would remember what he used to be like.

Paige shot Mark a look not quite understanding that Mark wasn't just writing Henry off.

Mark put his fork down and picked up his tray.

"But I'm sure it couldn't hurt."

* * *

At the end of the day Bae stood out in front of the school along with the other kids as they all waited for their parents to come collect them. Henry stood at the front of the crowd, a great deal away from him. Bae had tried to talk to him after lunch, but every time he got close the boy would pull away. For some reason it hurt Bae more than it should. Perhaps it was because he had no idea what he had done to lose Henry's friendship so quickly. It couldn't have been because of his Papa, after all, he and Henry were in the same 'club,' so what could it have been?

As the endless parade of metal carriages kept coming, one caught his eyes and for a moment he forgot to breathe. It was small compared to the rest of them and yellow, but although Bae had never seen anything like it before, it was the most familiar thing he had encountered in this world. He knew that it got cold at night, that it sometimes got stuck in second gear (whatever that meant) and that the taller person should always sleep in the passenger seat or there wouldn't be enough room for their feet without their shoes getting caught around the peddles.

If the sight of the car shocked him, it was nothing compared to what happened next. A woman got out of the car and motioned to Henry. She must have been his mother, but somehow Bae knew she was so much more then that; she was… she was…

He shoved a hand into his pocket, clutching the cygnet charm so tightly he could feel the imprint of the design forming in his palm. She looked over at him, and he squeezed it even tighter, as if it could give him all the answers to the half-formed questions that had been plaguing his mind since he woke up.

After a moment she jerked her eyes away, motioning for Henry to get in the car.

Bae kept watching as the yellow car pulled away and his Papa's car took its place.

"So, how was your first day of school?" his father asked with a barely hidden note of giddy excitement as he got in.

Bae looked at him. Had it been a time before the Dark One, Bae would have told him about the other kids staying away. About the whispers and about how it felt strange to be placed so far away from other kids his age, about meeting Mark and Paige, and about Henry, the sad, strange little boy he felt so drawn to. But it wasn't before and a voice in the back of his head told him that his papa couldn't be trusted with those things.

"It was good," Bae said, telling him only what he wanted to hear. He looked out the window, trying desperately to push down the overwhelming sense of anger and pain he couldn't quite place but knew it was directed at his father.

No, it wasn't like before at all.


End file.
